When a flood occurs in Venice, the inhabitants of this wonderful Italian city have many problems. It is known that the village is located on the islands, of which about one hundred and twenty in this area (the Venetian lagoon). Between them flows about one hundred and fifty channels through which four hundred bridges are thrown.
The hectic life of the townspeople due to the proximity to large water bodies has always been. In ancient times, the settlement (and the city exists somewhere from the 4th-3rd centuries BC) was flooded more than once, therefore, the ancient settlers, after they were covered by another flood in Venice, had to transfer all the buildings above to the hills. They learned to build houses on stilts so well that some government officials at the beginning of this millennium compared them to birds living on water. The island position of the city allowed it to achieve prosperity through international and local trade, fishing and salt mining.
I must say that a large flood in Venice can very quickly destroy this settlement, because the buildings here are very light. The bottom of the lagoon is saturated with silt and very unstable, therefore, the foundations here have always been multi-layered. At the bottom they consist of piles made of Russian larch (almost impossible to rot), in the middle of a wooden foundation, on which, in turn, stone slabs lie. The walls of the houses are made of limestone, and the partitions are thin and wooden, so any significant flow of water will blow them in minutes.
Anyone who wants to see a fabulous city should hurry. After all, he goes under water at a speed of about five millimeters per year. It affects the increasing number of buildings, as well as water intake from wells. The latter causes subsidence. To prevent catastrophic flooding in Venice or to occur as late as possible (the date of the final dive is called 2028), a protective project MOSE was built near the city, which allows protecting the lagoon from the high tides of the Adriatic Sea.
What factors trigger a flood? In Venice in 2013, as well as in 2012, the causes of natural disasters were heavy rains and the south wind, which caused the water to rise one and a half meters above the critical level. This led, for example, to brave tourists taking pictures at the cafe tables on the main square of the city chest-deep in the water, and the rest moved around the city in fishing pants with suitcases on their shoulders.
Nature has caused significant damage to such a city as Venice. The flood, the latest news of 2013 about winter, not only led to increased water levels, but also caused some damage to property due to the formation of an ice crust on the surface that scratched the boats and the walls of the buildings. During this period, schools and a number of state institutions were closed, tourist flows decreased. Many owners of stores adjacent to the channels suffered losses due to damage to goods and a decrease in the number of visitors. After all, the city lives mainly due to guests, whose number reaches fifteen million a year.